The end of the refugee crisis in the EU? At what price?

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In 2015 the so-called refugee "crisis" hit the European Union with more than 1,322,000 asylum seekers, mainly from Syria, applying for protection in Europe. Just a few years later, in 2020, the EU registered less than a third of that number of applications. The attention in the media regarding the situation of refugees in Europe also decreased over this period, although the number of people dying in the Mediterranean trying to reach the EU remains tragically high (1417 in 2020). Across the world, people are still trying to flee situations of political, environmental, and economic catastrophe. The Afghan refugees that fled Taliban rule, only to be stopped at the Polish border, constitute just one appalling example of the refusal of the EU to take any responsibility for those who appear to qualify for protection under European asylum law.

Has the so-called refugee crisis been called to an end? If so, at what price? Are the mechanisms deployed by the EU to enforce its borders fully legal in light of EU law and the European Convention on Human Rights? Are there any alternatives for the EU and its member states in dealing with people attempting to reach the EU to apply for protection, such as humanitarian visas, humanitarian corridors and wider resettlement programs? Is the long-term perspective outlined in the UN-endorsed 2018 Global Compact for Migration likely to bring solutions? These are some of the questions we hope to discuss in our first event of the year with Prof. Cathryn Costello (Oxford University and Hertie School), Prof. François Crépeau (McGill University) and Prof. Patrick Weil (Yale Law School).

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